In optical networks, signals may be transmitted at various wavelengths, with each wavelength corresponding to a transmission channel. Optical links may connect network nodes so that signals may be transmitted throughout the optical network. An optical route may use a series of network nodes and optical links to connect a source of an optical transmission with a destination for the optical transmission.
As optical link bandwidth demand increases, reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexers (ROADMs) have seen increasing usage as optical nodes. An optical network that is implemented using ROADMs can be reconfigured without physical modification of components of the ROADMs, which improves flexibility and peak bandwidth of the optical network. A ROADM may include a wavelength selective switch (WSS), which includes a switching array that routes optical signals to particular output ports based on wavelengths of the optical signal.